This book does have some good advices, but it does seem lacking in some areas. I've followed the CANSLIM principle, and I watched all the cup and handles, double bottoms, flat bases, and other chart patterns for a few years now. But I found that this is momentum buying at best. IBD claims that they're not momentum buying, but they focus so much on market direction, it seems like it. No matter how many times I bought near the pivot point when the cup formed a 1-7 week handle on low volume, I was making as much money as my friend (sometimes less) who does not follow any of this book's principles. In fact, even if he just buys cheap stocks with bad fundamentals, he still made as much money as I did. Maybe he just has very good luck, or this book's advices does not work very well. But this is not a bad book nor a very good book. This books does give you good advices like cutting your losses short, when to sense a market top, or a when a new bull might start. But don't think you'll double or triple your money in a year or so unless you're lucky.

This book is, without a doubt, the best common-sense book I have yet read on investing in common stocks (and I have read MANY). Although I don't feel O'Neil tries to hype his newspaper (Investors Business Daily) in the book, he does mention it a lot. The reason I say this is because so many other stock market books are really just a bunch of hype to get you to subscribe to investment services, attend seminars, ect. This book is none of that. It is straightforward, common sense ideas stated in terms that can be understood. However, I do feel perfectly comfortable reccomending IBD, I don't think any other financial publication comes close to IBD in quality (even the venerable WSJ). Do yourself a service, buy and read this book and subscribe to IBD. It is money WELL spent !

Bill O'Neil lays out a very objective, acurate and evidence-based method to choosing stocks. He explains 7 key aspects of a stock that you should check off before you should think about buying. He then explains how paramount it is to know the market direction because 3 out of 4 stocks will follow that trend. I'm also baffled with the reviews about people losing money with this book. It's clear they didn't read it to begin with as he explains in clear, everyday english when to cut your losses. He reminds us of the most common mistakes investors make as well. I started picking stocks back in November and 3/4 of them have double digit % gains while the market has tanked. Here's to you Bill O'Neil!